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VANCOUVER — The World Cups being held in Sochi this month in snowboarding, freestyle skiing and bobsleigh/skeleton are referred to as test events, on the schedule to ensure the venues will operate smoothly at the 2014 Olympics.

But they also serve as test events for the athletes as they look to find an edge, a spark or a bit of confidence they can use to be medal contenders at the Games.

The 28-year-old, who had never before made it to the round-of-16 heat racing in 34 World Cup starts in parallel giant slalom or parallel slalom, stunned the circuit by finishing third in the parallel GS.

“I knew it could happen,” she said. “In all the last races I was so close.”

Well, that depends on your definition of close. In the season-opening giant slalom at Carezza, Italy, she was 18th, just .25 seconds from qualifying for the heat racing. But in two other events since then, she’s been nearly two seconds back in 31st and 27th; in another she crashed out of her second qualifying run.

In those 34 World Cups over the last four years, Lavigne’s average finish has been 27th.

But on Thursday, after qualifying 14th fastest, she beat Japan’s Tomoka Takeuchi, the third-fastest qualifier, by .14 seconds over two runs on an icy course. Then she eliminated 2010 Olympic champion Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands by a whopping 2.64 seconds in the quarter-finals.

After eventual silver medallist Amelie Kober of Germany beat her by .43 seconds in the semifinal, Lavigne came back to dominate Valeriya Tsoy of Kazakhstan in the bronze-medal duel. She led by 1.50 after the first run and Tsoy was disqualified in the second for missing a gate.

“It’s been a great day,” said Lavigne. “I’m happy with the riding, happy with the results. It feels really good. It’s a great opportunity to be here in Sochi to get to know the course.”

Marion Kreiner of Austria, a former world champion, edged Kober by 4/100ths of a second in the final to claim her third career World Cup victory.

Reigning Olympic champion Jasey-Jay Anderson of Mont-Tremblant was the top Canadian in 14th.

The men and women will race the parallel slalom Friday. That discipline will make its Olympic debut in Sochi.

Meantime, Taku Hiraoka of Japan won the men’s halfpipe on Thursday. The 17-year-old scored 90.25 points to easily beat out former world champion Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland, who scored 84.50. Scott Lago of the U.S. was third. Derek Livingston of Aurora, Ont., was the top Canadian in 26th.

Two-time reigning Olympic champion Shaun White of the U.S. did not compete.

Kelly Clark of the U.S. won the women’s halfpipe, finishing ahead of Holly Crawford of Australia and Sophie Rodriguez of France. Mercedes Nicol of Whistler was 15th.

GAGNON BATTLES: Marie-Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., put together two solid runs Thursday to finish eighth in the women’s slalom at the FIS world alpine championships in Schladming, Austria.

Tessa Worley of France earned the win, taking advantage of being first out of the gate in the first run to build a half-second advantage as visibility and course conditions deteriorated. She was also fastest on the second run for a combined time of two minutes, 8.06 seconds.

Tina Maze of Slovenia was second in 2:09.18 and Anna Fenninger of Austria third in 2:09.24.

Gagnon, 23, posted a time of 2:10.69 for her second-best finish of the season in giant slalom.

“It was a fight, but I laid it out there, I attacked,” Gagnon said in a release. “For sure, some mistakes happened but I gave it all I had today and eighth place, I’m really happy. At world champs, only medals count, but for me it’s a big step.”

Marie-Pier Prefontaine of Saint-Sauveur, Que., was 28th, while 17-year-old Mikaela Tommy of Wakefield, Que., failed to finish her first run. The promising Tommy hopes to be a medal contender at next week’s world junior championships in Quebec.

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